Author: Toganian Liana

ArmenPress
Sept 22 2004

DEPUTY PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SAYS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS BASED ON
HUMAN RIGHTS RESPECT

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: Deputy parliament chairman
Tigran Torosian praised today the working Constitution, passed in
1995, saying it has contributed significantly to the democracy
development and establishment of government institutions, but added
that it has some shortcoming constraining the country’s progress,
which he said result from Armenia’s scanty experience in
constitutional right and practice back in 1995.
He said the expected constitutional amendments, proposed by the
ruling majority, are based on constitutional guarantees ensuring the
citizens’ right to exercise their freedoms. He also emphasized a
clause in the draft constitution that empowers the legislature with
the right to elect the human rights defender, vesting him or her with
the power to address to the Constitutional Court for protection of
citizens’ rights.
Another important clause, according to Torosian are a chain of
amendments aimed to reform the judicial system, under which the
Justice Council, headed now by the president of the country, will be
immune from the executive power’s influence. Under the clause the
Council will be headed by one of its members.
The deputy parliament chairman also said the package of amendments
seeks to create a balance among power branches. Some other changes
are expected also to introduce more clarity in respect to local
self-management bodies. Another draft amendment would allow the
parliament to endorse or reject a prime minister nominated by the
president, but the latter would be empowered to dissolve it if his
candidacies are rejected by lawmakers for three consecutive times.
Torosian said two other packages of alternative constitutional
reforms, proposed by Arshak Sadoyan and the United Labor Party will
be also discussed in the parliament. He said the conclusion of the
Council of Europe Venice Commission on the amendments, designed by
the majority, will arrive in early October.

CENN – SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 DAILY DIGEST – ARMENIA

Table of Contents:
1. Presentation of Armenian Culture Portal Took Place in Yerevan
2. Robert Kocharian: Sure That Realization of Armenian-Iranian Energy
Projects to Obtain Regions Importance
3. Armenia, Iran sign $30-mln Credit Agreement for Pipeline Construction
4. A critical Moment for Lake Sevan
5. Who is Destroying the Forests in Tsaghkadzor?
6. Armenian Government Seeks to Tighten Food Safety Regulations
7. Construction of Armenian Sector of Gas Pipeline with Iran to Begin by
Late October
8. RJSC UES of Russia Earns Some $80 mln Yearly in Armenia, $15 mln in
Georgia: Andrey Rappoport
9. Construction of Meghri HPP on River Araks to Start in 2005

1. PRESENTATION OF ARMENIAN CULTURE PORTAL TOOK PLACE IN
YEREVAN

Source: /ARKA/, September 8, 2004

Presentation of Armenian culture portal took place in
Yerevan. According to the Chairman of Association of Film Journalists
and Critics Susanna Harutyunian, the site is created on the base of
Internet page of Arvest magazine. “During two years of life of this
page, we understood that Internet has a lot of opportunities”, she said.
According to Harutyunian today the site contains news of culture,
articles, schedules of seminars and exhibitions, data base of culture
organizations of Armenia, legal articles and Government’s decisions in
given field and forum. “We hope that soon the number of visitors of our
site will grow”, she said. The site was created on the
initiative of the Association in assistance with Open Society Institute
Armenian branch.

2. ROBERT KOCHARIAN: SURE THAT REALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-IRANIAN ENERGY
PROJECTS TO OBTAIN REGIONS IMPORTANCE

Source: /ARKA/, September 8, 2004

RA President Robert Kocharian is confident that realization of
Armenian-Iranian energy projects will obtain regions importance, he
stated this at the briefing in Yerevan. According to him, energy is one
of the most important spheres of bilateral cooperation of Armenia with
Iran. “In given sphere we already accumulated certain experience on the
base of which we can develop steps on cooperation of infrastructures in
the sphere”, Kocharian said. Today the Presidents of Iran and Armenia
Mohammad Hatami and Robert Kocharian signed the agreement on basis and
principles of cooperation. Iranian delegation headed with the President
arrived today in Yerevan. It is the first visit of Iranian President in
Armenia.

3. ARMENIA, IRAN SIGN $30-MLN CREDIT AGREEMENT FOR PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION

Source: Interfax, September 9, 2004

Armenia and Iran signed a $30-million credit agreement on Wednesday to
finance the construction of the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline.

Energy is an important sector in cooperation between the two countries,
which have already gained a wealth of experience in cooperation in this
sphere, Armenian President Robert Kocharian said at a press conference
following the signing of the agreement.

“More serious steps will be taken based on this experience on the path
to unite the infrastructure of both states and raise mutual relations to
a qualitatively new level,” Kocharian said, adding that the construction
of the pipeline has an important regional significance.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who was at the press conference,
also said bilateral cooperation was important in the energy sphere.

According to the agreement, Iran is to provide Armenia with a credit of
$30 million to build the Armenian section of the Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline. The credit will be provided for 7.5 years at 5% per year. The
funds will be used to finance the construction of a pipeline from the
border town of Megri to Kajaran.

Construction of the Armenian section of the pipeline should begin at the
end of 2004. Armenia will finance work to reconstruct and change parts
on the Kajaran-Yerevan gas pipeline.

Armenia and Iran signed an agreement on May 13 for the construction of a
pipeline between the two countries. The pipeline is 141 km long,
inducing 41 km in Armenia and 100 km in Iran. The total cost of the
project is estimated at $210-$220 million. The pipeline is expected to
be launched before January 1, 2007.

Gas should start to arrive in Armenia from January 2007 and will be used
at Armenian thermal power plants to produce electricity for export to
Iran. Iran will supply 36 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia
over 20 years according to the document.

4. A CRITICAL MOMENT FOR LAKE SEVAN

Source: , September 8, 2004

The six-meter increase in the water level is not based on science

Lake Sevan was once a reservoir of water fit for drinking, according to
physical, chemical, and biological indices. But today, as a result of
the intensive exploitation of the lake over the years, its ecological
system has been disturbed, with falling water level and resultant
swamping bringing about qualitative changes, and the state of its native
fish life, the most sensitive index of the health of the lake, has
changed. There used to be three kinds of fish native to Sevan – ishkhan
(trout), koghak (carp) and beghlu (barbus).

Beghlu is a species peculiar to Lake Sevan. It has never had any
economic significance, much less so today. The quantity of Koghak has
decreased catastrophically as well, to the point where scientists plan
to declare it an endangered species. Of the four types of Ishkhan, two
used to spawn in the lake, and two in the rivers. Two of these have
disappeared, since their spawning grounds have vanished as the water
level has fallen, and the other two are on the verge of extinction.

Today only two kinds of fish of industrial significance remain in Sevan
– Sig (whitefish) and lake sazan.

Four years ago a project to restore Lake Gilli , in the southeast of the
Sevan basin, was launched, and it was expected to play a vital role in
saving the Sevan eco-system. Lake Gilli had dried up as a result of the
drop in Sevan’s water level. Since then, 110 kinds of birds have
disappeared from the basin, and the republic as a whole has been
deprived of 35 kinds of birds.

The Gilli project failed, and it is not clear yet what the fate of a
second project, recently started with an impressive initial investment
of $1 million, will be.

The most striking evidence of the government’s mishandling of the Sevan
problem is the complete absence of purifying stations on the lake. But
even if they were in operation, they would have trouble preventing the
damage to Sevan caused by agriculture. Irrigation is not the only
problem. The inability of villagers to utilize fertilizers correctly
contributes to the free flow of nitrates and phosphates into the lake,
the majority of which come from industrial and household wastewater.
Twice in the past, a decision was made to build in a purification
station in Gavar. Both times, the decisions were reversed and new
enterprises were built.

Delays in putting the Vorotan River-Arpa River hydro-system into
operation have played a role as well. It has come to light through the
2002 annual report of the Ministry of Ecology that although 1.4 billion
drams (about $2.7 million) was allocated for the construction of a
tunnel, no work was carried out.

There is another factor threatening the stability of the level of Sevan
which is beyond human control, the negative impact of evaporation on the
water level over the past few years. The volume of water lost through
evaporation has been greater than the volume of water flowing into the
lake.
And although there has been heavy rainfall in the last two years,
scientists predict that in connection with global warming, evaporation
will increase in the future. Some even hold the pessimistic view that no
matter what is done, the lake will eventually evaporate completely.

But at least this year, unprecedentedly abundant rains have helped
revive the beautiful mountainous lake. Today, Sevan seems to be waking
up, its dead green color gradually turning healthy and vivid. It is
expected that when the Vorotan – Arpa hydro-system goes into operation,
165 million cubic meters of water will flow into Sevan each year. This
will be a miracle cure for the lake, now at death’s door. The Law on
Sevan stipulates that the level of the lake must rise by six meters.
Compared to 2000-2001, the water level has already gone up one meter and
seventeen centimeters.

But a real battle has begun between ecologists and the government over
goals for the lake. Scientists say that emphasizing the six-meter mark
not only is unfounded scientifically, but also might have very dangerous
consequences for the lake. The chairman of the NGO For Sustainable Human
Development, Karine Danielyan, explains, “The ecological system of the
lake will become healthier if the lake water returns to its level in the
nineteen-sixties, i.e. 1,908.5 meters, when the processes of decline had
not yet begun and the lake was in its natural, balanced state. That’s
the only way that the water quality will improve, the flora and fauna
will revive, and it will become possible to talk about saving Sevan.”

“This six meters won’t do anything for the lake,” says the
deputy-director of the Institute of Hydro-ecology and Pisciculture of
the Academy of Science, Bartugh Gabrielyan. “Maybe it will hold up the
swamping process, but it will not improve the water quality, and Sevan’s
most important problem is water quality. People were talking about six
meters at a time when the lake’s water level had fallen by eighteen
meters. Since then the water level has kept falling, up to twenty to
twenty-two meters, but now the same figure is being mentioned again. ”

Minister of Ecology Vardan Aivazyan says that the figure of six meters
appeared as a result of a study by experts from the World Bank. The real
story is somewhat different. At one time, the Institute of Hydrology of
the Academy of Science of Armenia, together with institutes in Moscow
and Rostov ( Russia ), developed a mathematical model to find out what
would happen in the lake after the water level increased, and what level
would be necessary to return the water quality to its previous grade.
The mark of six meters was found as a result of applying this model.
Accepting these dated findings, without taking the trouble to do new
research or ask the opinion of local scientists regarding the current
situation, international experts merely reiterated the six-meter mark.
The fact that the ecological system of the lake has changed for the
worse, with new problems raising their heads, has been completely
ignored.

The reason that the government doesn’t want to consider raising the
level of the lake by more than six meters may simply be that a rising
water level will become a real threat to dozens of lakeside vacation
houses owned by the nouveaux riches with positions and connections.
Waves are lapping at the walls of Gagik Tsarukyan’s lakeside “cottage”,
and dozens of other buildings are already under water. So today,
stubborn attempts are being made to reduce even the six-meter mark. The
marzpet (governor) of Gegharkiunik, Stepan Barsegyan, says he receives
unofficial instructions that the water level should not go up by more
than four meters. The director of Sevan National Park , Gagik
Martirosyan, employs doubtful arguments to suggest that an increase of
even by one meter would be enough for Sevan. This could mean that the
quantity of water entering the lake will be controlled, in order to
protect the owners of lakeside buildings.

There are 350-400 structures along the coast today, owned by individuals
and organizations, the majority of them illegal. The government will not
compensate the owners of illegal constructions if they go under water.
But the government will have problems with the landlords whose houses
were built with permits from town-planning authorities. These landlords
are understandably furious, since none of the local officials or
ministers dropped a hint about the water level increase as they handed
out these permits. But the strange thing is that construction work is
still going on all around the lake, even though local officials now warn
builders that their projects might one day be under water.

The fifteen to twenty hectares of lakeside forests that have been
planted over the last fourteen years will be absorbed into the lake as
well, a sad but unavoidable loss.

Today for the first time in years, there is a real possibility that the
lake will be saved. The Vorotan – Arpa hydro-system, the twenty-eight
rivers that flow into the lake, and the reconstruction of the Yeghvard
Reservoir all hold real promise for Sevan. The unprecedentedly heavy
precipitation of the last few years was an unexpected gift. Some
ecologists believe that even without the hydro-systems Sevan may come
back from the brink of death. If, of course, its salvation is not
sacrificed to the interests of the oligarchs.

It’s a critical time for Lake Sevan once again. The general public has
been deprived of information about what has been going on around Sevan.
It has been deprived of the right to participate in deliberations over
the fate of the lake that plays such an important role in the life of
generations to come. Perhaps this is because both our government and our
society are lacking in environmental awareness. People sit by silently,
uninformed, as their rights and interests are threatened.

5. WHO IS DESTROYING THE FORESTS IN TSAGHKADZOR?

Source: , September 8, 2004

As we reported on August 28th, a number of media outlets organized a
joint protest in which ninety journalists went to Tsakhkadzor in
nineteen cars. They drove around the town taking pictures of the forests
that have been cut down and the houses of various government officials
and businessmen that have gone up.

Pictured here is the wall surrounding the house of Levon Sargisyan, a
member of parliament. We remind you that it was Sargisyan’s bodyguard,
Gagik Stepanyan, who beat photojournalist Mkhitar Khachatryan of the
news agency PhotoLur and reporter Anna Israelyan from the newspaper
Aravot. Stepyanyan is currently under arrest. It makes sense that an MP
who walks around with dozens of bodyguards has to build a wall like
this, though only he knows who or what he is so afraid of.

This mansion belongs to the head of the State Customs Committee of
Armenia, Armen Avetisyan.

The path through the forest has been widened to enable Robert Kocharyan
to drive a snow mobile here. “Maybe some twenty trees were cut down
there,” says the mayor of Tsaghkadzor, Garun Mirzoyan.

When reporters had presented him with evidence that trees had been cut
down Tsaghkadzor the mayor made the following statement twice, “In this
area only ten or fifteen trees were cut down”.

Now that the forest has been occupied by the owners of these mansions –
government officials, MPs, oligarchs – ordinary people can’t even pick
berries there. On August 7, 2004, Samvel Baghdasaryan, a resident of
Hrazdan, was shot and wounded while picking gooseberries. Haykakan
Zhamanak reported that according to one theory, it was a bodyguard of
Olympic Committee Chairman Ishkhan Zakaryan who pulled the trigger. An
investigation into the case by the Hrazdan prosecutor’s office is
underway, although there are no suspects so far.

6. ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO TIGHTEN FOOD-SAFETY REGULATIONS

Source; RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 8, No. 173, Part I, 10 September 2004

The Armenian government approved a set of measures on 9 September to
significantly tighten food-safety standards, RFE/RL’s Yerevan bureau
reported. The proposed measures, covering both domestic and imported
food products, would impose stricter quality and packaging requirements,
including new health warnings and detailed labeling.

According to Mikael Grigorian, the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s
food-safety department, the proposals are necessitated by the inadequacy
and poor enforcement of current food-safety regulations.

The availability of low-cost but inferior foodstuffs that fail to meet
minimum health standards in Armenia was confirmed by a recent inspection
by the Health Ministry that revealed widespread noncompliance with basic
safety requirements by many domestic agribusiness producers.

7. CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN SECTOR OF GAS PIPELINE WITH IRAN TO BEGIN BY
LATE OCTOBER

Source: Interfax, September 10, 2004

The construction of the Armenian section of its gas pipeline with Iran
is expected to begin by the end of October, Armenian Ambassador to Iran
Geram Garibdzhanian told Interfax.

A contract envisioning an Iranian credit for building the gas pipeline’s
Armenian sector and a treaty on construction works at this sector by
Iran’s Sanir company are only the first steps in Iran’s assistance to
Armenia in this project, the ambassador said, declining to provide
further details.

Three Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental documents were signed during
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s official visit to Yerevan on
Wednesday. They include a memorandum on mutual understanding and
cooperation between the Energy Ministries of Armenia and Iran, an
agreement on a $30 million credit to be issued by Export Development
Bank of Iran to the Armenian Energy Ministry and a treaty making the
Iranian Sanir company subcontractor of the project aimed at building the
Armenian section of the gas pipeline.

8. RJSC UES OF RUSSIA EARNS SOME $80 MLN YEARLY IN ARMENIA, $15 MLN IN
GEORGIA: ANDREY RAPPOPORT

Source: ARMINFO, September 10, 2004

RJSC UES of Russia earns some $80 mln yearly in Armenia, in Georgia
aggregate assets will bring $15 mln profits, the member of the Board of
the Russian energy holding Andrey Rappoport told “Gazeta” Russian
newspaper. The interview is published by the Department for Mass Media
of RJSC UES of Russia.

A.Rappoport said that the energy holding spent a total of $50-60 mln for
purchase of assets in Georgia and Armenia in conformity with preliminary
data, as not all calculations have been carried out yet. He added that
there are no problems with payments for energy resources in Armenia,
while in Georgia the debt of the “Wholesale Energy Market” to the
Tbilisi city electricity distribution network (assets of RJSC UES of
Russia) totals some $27.6 mln. He said: “I see no special problems in
Armenia. Their attitude to us is very good, and if any difficulties
arouse, they overcome them along the way. While in Georgia, there are
real problems in relations with local authorities. We have felt some
aggressiveness to us recently. We do not understand it, as the Georgian
leadership comes out for attraction of investors to the country,
promising comfortable conditions for them. During the recent
negotiations with Georgian leaders, I directly stated that as an
investor I feel uncomfortable in Georgia. In such a situation, there can
be no special interest in making serious investments in Goergia.”

9. CONSTRUCTION OF MEGHRI HPP ON RIVER ARAKS TO START IN 2005

Source: ARMINFO, September 10, 2004

Construction of a joint Armenian-Iranian hydropower plant in Meghri on
the Riven Araks will start in 2005, Armenian Energy Minister told
journalists on September 9, 2004.

He said that a relevant agreement was reached on the last day of Iranian
President Seyed Mohammad Khatami’s visit to Armenia in the course of his
meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Measures on
feasibility study of the given project are planned to be completed
before 2005. The minister said that HPP would become the most powerful
in the territory of the Transcaucasus. It should be noted that the
established capacity of the HPP will total 140 megawatt, with the
electricity generation to make up 150 mln kW yearly. The project is
estimated at 160 mln USD.

NATO DELEGATION DUE IN ARMENIA ON SEPTEMBER 13

ArmenPress
Sept 10 2004

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: A NATO delegation comprising
members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Security and Civic
Enlargement Committee and the Political Commission’s sub-committee
is due to Armenia on September 13 for a three-day visit.

On September 13 NATO officials will meet with parliament chairman
Arthur Baghdasarian and Mher Shahgeldian, who is a chairman of a
parliament committee on defense and national security issues and head
of Armenian delegation to NATO Parliamentary Assembly. A roundtable is
planned for the same day with members of several parliament committees
to discuss a variety of issues on local reforms, international security
and NATO’s role, Armenia’s foreign policy and defense priorities and
Armenia’s contribution to the regional security.

Another round table will be organized with representatives of
non-governmental organizations on September 14. The same day NATO
officials will meet with president Kocharian, defense minister Serzh
Sarkisian, deputy foreign minister Tatul Margarian and police chief
Hayk Harutunian.

The delegation will wrap up its visit by yet another round table
discussions on human rights at the parliament premises on September
15 before leaving for Georgia in the afternoon.

Police thwart picket outside German embassy

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2004

Baku, September 8, AssA-Irada

The Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (WAPFP) members held another
action in protest against the planned arrival of Armenian officers to
Baku to attend NATO exercises outside the German embassy on Wednesday.

The police prevented the protesters from approaching the embassy
building.

10 party members were detained and taken to the Sabayil district
police department, including Ali Jafarov, a nominee for additional
parliamentary elections.

The detained protesters were released an hour later. The adviser
to the WAPFP chairman said the party intends to continue pickets in
front of embassies of NATO member-states in Baku.*

California Courier Online, September 9, 2004

1 – Commentary
Sargsian/Agassi Match at US Open
Provides Publicity for Armenians

By Harut Sassounian
California Courier Publisher
**************************************************************************
2 – Mardirossian Wins $14 Million
Verdict for Family of Bus Driver
3 – Balakian Named Honorary Member
Of Armenia’s Writer’s Union
4 – Eighth Annual Celebrating Saroyan Announces
Speakers for Sept. 26 Program in Bay Area
5 – Armenian Genocide Survivors File Class
Action Lawsuit Against German Banks
6 – Edwards Named Stanford QB
************************************************************************
1 – Commentary

Sargsian/Agassi Match at US Open
Provides Publicity for Armenians

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Last week, when I wrote in this column that a handful of outstanding
Armenian athletes could put Armenia on the map of the world, little did I
know that my wish would come true so quickly.
Sargis Sargsian from Armenia has become the sensation of the tennis world
in recent days by winning several marathon and nail-biting matches at the
US Open Tennis Tournament in New York City, including his victory over
Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu.
Wire services and newspapers around the world have covered Sargsian’s
tennis victories, repeatedly mentioning that he is from Armenia. The New
York Times featured him consecutively on Sept. 5 and 6.
To top it all, the CBS network happened to broadcast the Sargis
Sargsian-Andre Agassi match on Labor Day when millions of viewers were at
home watching the game on TV. The CBS commentators made repeated references
to Sargsian’s Armenian background, Andre Agassi’s friendship with Sargis
due to their common Armenian heritage, and the hospitality of the
Mansourian family that had hosted Sargis in their Connecticut home when he
first arrived in the United States a decade ago.
It was also pleasing to note that Andre Agassi openly referred to his
Armenian background during a network TV interview. This is a big
turn-around from the time almost 20 years ago when his father yelled at me
for asking Andre about his Armenian heritage during a press conference in
Los Angeles.
Armenia and Armenians got millions of dollars worth of free publicity
during the past few days, thanks to Andre Agassi and Sargis Sargsian. One
can imagine how much more publicity can be gained from the successful
participation of Armenian athletes in such high-profile sporting events,
should a fund be set up to support their training?

Wiesenthal Center Blasts Turkish Anti-Semitic Article

Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Director for
International Liaison, sent a letter to the Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul last month, expressing horror at an anti-Semitic article
published in the August 17th issue of the Turkish newspaper Vakit. The
writer, Abdurrahim Karakoc, had glorified Hitler and justified the
Holocaust.
Here are brief excerpts from that article:
“The Concentration camps which were set up in Germany during World War II
have been set up in Israel now. It is impossible not to admire the
forethought of Adolf Hitler who was presented to the public opinion as
‘racist, sadist, [and] monster’.”
Karakoc went on to say that Hitler “predicted what would happen these days.
He got rid of the Jews, because he knew that the conjurer Jews, who
perceive racism as a religion and take pleasure in splattering the world
with blood, would be a big trouble for the world.” Karakoc added: “We
should, in fact, be thankful to Hitler, as we are all thankful to Osama bin
Laden today.”
Dr. Samuels, in his letter, reminded Foreign Minister Gul that he and Rabbi
Abraham Cooper, the Wiesenthal Center’s Associate Dean, had met with him in
Ankara on January 12, 2004, during which they had thanked him for
condemning anti-Semitism.
In his letter, Dr. Samuels told Gul: “The content of the Vakit article …
not only appears to violate Turkish law, but its apologia for genocide and
incitement to anti-Semitism contravene the anti-racism provisions of the
European Union which Turkey aspires to join. They also negate conventions
of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe [OSCE], to which Turkey is a signatory.”
The Wiesenthal Center urged the Turkish Government to vigorously denounce
and “publicly condemn this article and to take disciplinary measures
against its author and the editors of Vakit.”
The Vakit article is not an aberration. As various polls have repeatedly
indicated, both the government and people of Turkey hold very strong
anti-Jewish views. Turkish newspapers from time to time publish blatantly
anti-Semitic articles. That is why we have regularly cautioned some
Jewish-American organizations not to join Turkish anti-Semites in lobbying
against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
The Wiesenthal Center should be commended for not putting up with such
vicious anti-Jewish articles for the sake of Israel’s strategic interests
in the Middle East! In fact the Center issued a statement on June 17, 2004,
directly condemning the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for
accusing Israel of state terrorism.
Ironically, another Jewish organization, the American Jewish Congress,
honored Erdogan earlier this year with its “Profiles in Courage” Award. In
contrast to the Wiesenthal Center’s criticisms of both Vakit and Erdogan,
the American Jewish Congress has remained shamefully silent!
**************************************************************************
2 – Mardirossian Wins $14 Million
Verdict for Family of Bus Driver
By Blair Clarkson
Daily Journal Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES – The family of a 34-year-old driver who died after being
catapulted, seat and all, through the front window of her bus won a $13.7
million verdict Tuesday from the charter company that maintained
the vehicle.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Farrell found Inglewood-based Four
Winds Inc. liable for the April 2001 death of LaShaun Clemmons because of
“mismatched” and “inadequate” bolts that mechanics had used to attach her
seat to the floor of the bus, according to the victim’s lawyer.
“She didn’t recognize the defect,” said Garo Mardirossian of Los Angeles’
Mardirossian & Associates, “but the [Four Winds] mechanics should have.”
The lawyer for Four Winds, Gerald Malanga, declined to comment on the
decision.
Clemmons, a South Los Angeles resident and the mother of two teenage sons,
was driving the empty bus south on Interstate 5 near Valencia when she hit
an icy patch and lost control, Mardirossian said.
Clemmons struck a car parked in the median lane, plowed into the center
median itself and was launched, still strapped into her seat, through the
right front windshield.
She slid across five lanes and was run over by a tractor-trailer, which
killed her instantly, according to Mardirossian’s trial brief.
Mardirossian claimed the seat was moved from its factory-installed position
at an unknown point and reattached with improper bolts, turning a moderate
accident into a fatal one.
He alleged that Four Winds mechanics were negligent for failing to notice
or replace the improper bolts.
“The accident itself was survivable,” Mardirossian said. “But once she was
ejected from the vehicle, all bets were off.”
Clemmons originally was employed by Four Winds and leased the bus from the
firm. In 2000, Clemmons purchased the bus from Four Winds and became an
independent charter driver.
However, Four Winds remained responsible for maintaining the bus and
performing vehicle inspections, according to the brief.
The bulk of the verdict, $12 million, was awarded to Clemmons’ two sons,
Tayarie Baker, 15, and Antonio Baker Jr., 16, who live with their
grandmother. The father, Antonio Baker Sr., who is in prison, received
$400,000, Mardirossian said.
“She was the glue that held that family together,” he said.
Mardirossian, a prominent plaintiffs’ attorney, won a $9.4 million
settlement in 2002 from a Tustin-based Ford dealership for a similar
accident. A Newport Beach family was tossed from their Explorer sport
utility vehicle in a rollover on Interstate 15.
Mardirossian argued that the dealership failed to make proper repairs on
Catherine and Agop Gozukara’s SUV, which veered out of control and flipped
over a concrete barrier, according to news reports.
A jury ruled that the 1994 Explorer had a design defect that could cause
rollovers but said that the defect didn’t cause the Gozukaras’ accident,
diluting the impact of the ruling, according to reports.
The family also won a $5.5 million settlement from the state Department of
Transportation and a highway construction firm.
All five passengers sustained serious injuries, including Catherine
Gozukara, 40, who was pregnant. She became a paraplegic.
**************************************************************************
3 – Balakian Named Honorary Member
Of Armenia’s Writer’s Union
YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan) – Author Peter Balakian visited Armenia recently at
the invitation of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the
Writers’ Union of Armenia. It was the writer’s second visit to the
homeland.
During an Aug. 10 meeting with journalists and the AGBU leadership,
Balakian said he first visited Armenia in 1987.
“It was a journey that has changed my life, I would never started writing
so, if there wasn’t this visit.” Hailing the writer, Levon Ananian,
Chairman of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, stressed that regardless of the
loss of the Armenian language, Balakian remained an Armenian, he had
researched his roots and presented the tragedy of the beginning of the
century, the Armenian Genocide, to the world community. “The study of the
Genocide topic made my art more common to all mankind,” said Balakian. He
also said that his book “Sad Days of the World” translated by Artem
Harutiunian will be published this year.
Levon Ananian confered the rank of the honored member of the Writers’ Union
of Armenia to Peter Balakian.
Balakian is the author of eight books. His book, entitled “Burning
Tigris,” received several American prizes, was released in 2004, and the
earlier “Black Dog of Fate” book was awarded with “The New York Times”
Prize as the best book of the year.
**************************************************************************
4 – Eighth Annual Celebrating Saroyan Announces
Speakers for Sept. 26 Program in Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – The Eighth Annual Celebrating Saroyan event is coming up on
Sept. 26, and interest is high, expectations at a peak. What will they do
next and who will be the speakers?
Expect the unexpected.
Popular Saroyan speaker and writer of, ” My Real Work is Being” David
Calonne, Ph.D., will be speaking about one of his favorite authors, William
Saroyan. The complex, colorful, provocative title is, “Saroyan on
Creativity: Genius, Madness and Inspiration.
A French counterpart arriving in San Francisco from Paris to also speak
about Saroyan is Hagop Papazian, Ph.D. His thesis was received on the
subject of Saroyan and covered “The Human Comedy,” the short story and the
autobiography. His equally provocative Title is “Writing: A Saroyanesque
Engagement.”
The American Conservatory Theater will again be part of the program
presenting a scene from a Saroyan play never produced in America.
The afternoon promises to be an enlightening experience full of Saroyan
with avenues yet to be explored. Those who cherish and delight in the
varied, heightened, arabesque Saroyan life will leave filled with threads
of hope, anguish, delight and above all, the feeling that William Saroyan
and his loud antics and jovial nature, words of insight and despair will be
an integral part of the 21st century.
The program will be held in the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public
Library, Koret Auditorium, lower level. The library is in the Civic Center
located on Grove at Larkin.
The Sept. 26 program starts at 2 p.m. and the doors open at 1:30. Seating
is limited and open. The program is free to the public.
The program will open with Cory Shakarian who has been with the San
Francisco Giants for seven years, introducing Jacqueline Papazian Kazarian,
Executive Director of the William Saroyan Literary Foundation,
International. This year’s program will be dedicated to the memory of Aram
Jack Kevorkian who was a keynote speaker at the Fourth Celebrating Saroyan
event. For more information, visit the website , or
call (415) 307-4418.
The co-sponsors of this event are numerous and include the nation’s oldest
public forum, The Commonwealth Club of California.
**************************************************************************
5- Armenian Genocide Survivors File Class
Action Lawsuit Against German Banks
LOS ANGELES – A class action lawsuit was filed Aug. 31, in a Los Angeles
Federal Court against two German Banks, giant Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) and
Allianz acquired Dresdner Bank. Armenian Genocide survivors and their
heirs, the Plaintiffs, charge both banks, the Defendants, of several acts
of wrongdoing and demand recovery of assets. Dresdner Bank was acquired by
Allianz (NYSE: AZ) in 2001.
Deutsche Bank was Adolf Hitler’s lead banker. Documents released by bank
historian Manfred Pohl, who made them public in February 1999, revealed for
the first time how Deutsche Bank financed much of the construction of the
Auschwitz concentration camp. The documents provide evidence of the secret
SS-controlled accounts used to transfer funds stolen from Jews who had been
deported or sent to death camps during World War II. The Armenian Genocide
occurred during World War I, in 1915 – when reigning Turks of the Ottoman
Empire mass-murdered over 2.1 million Armenians in present day Turkey.
Five families filed as Lead Plaintiffs, and since the case is a class
action lawsuit, it was filed on behalf of Armenians who: 1) made deposits
with the Banks, 2) who were killed in the Armenian Genocide and 3) whose
heirs were not repaid deposits on their accounts.
In addition to the demand of asset recovery, plaintiffs are seeking
compensation for unpaid wages and other damages stemming from the use of
plaintiffs’ ancestors and other Armenians as slave and forced laborers
during the time of the Genocide.
Plaintiffs have information supporting wrongdoings by Deutsche Bank and
Dresdner Bank of engaging in the following acts during the Armenian
Genocide and World War I:
1 – Knowingly trading with Young Turks in goods made by slave labor
2 – Acting as the secret banks of Young Turks, aiding and abating in
looting, and functioning as conduit for looted assets – laundering for
profit from goods from Armenians
3 – Directly owning / controlling the Berlin – Baghdad Railway that used
slave labor
4 – Taking 100,000 Armenians by rail to the death camps and charging them
for this trip to death
Attorney for the plaintiffs, Vartkes Yeghiayan of Los Angeles says,
“Europeans nicknamed the Ottomans and reigning Turks as the “Sick Man of
Europe” during World War I. Turks lacked governmental organization;
therefore, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank stepped in to help them
organize, aid and abate in looting—profiting from the innocent. They
haven’t cleared their names in history by settling with Jewish Holocaust
survivors. The Armenian Diaspora will not waiver either.”
In June 2004, Armenian survivors and heirs settled with US giant insurer,
New York Life Insurance Company for $20 million dollars, recovering funds
for unpaid life insurance policies.
Demirjian, et al. v. Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank, (Case No. CV04-7248),
a class action law suit in Federal Court was filed on August 31, 2004,
seeking payment for recovery of account deposits, as well as punitive
damages for unpaid wages and other reparations.
The attorney representing plaintiffs, Vartkes Yeghiayan of Yeghiayan and
Associates, recovered unpaid life insurance benefits for over 2,000
Armenian policyholders and their heirs in settling Marootian et al. v. New
York Life Insurance Company, on Aug. 31, 2004. He is an expert in Armenian
asset recovery and Genocide losses.
**************************************************************************
6 – Edwards Named Stanford QB
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Sophomore Trent Edwards will be the starting
quarterback for the Stanford Cardinals football team this season.
He is the grandson of the late Ben Suren Morjig(ian) of Castro Valley.
Morjig, then the vice-chairman of the Pacific Association of the Amateur
Athletic Union, was one of the early backers of the Western Armenian Summer
Games, along with Richard Demirjian, President of the Western Armenian
Athletic Association.
Edwards attended most of the Armenian Olympics up until the time of his
freshman year in Stanford University, according to Demirjian.

**************************************************************************
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Armenian Union of Russia condemns Beslan terrorist act

ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 7, 2004 Tuesday

MOSCOW, September 7 — The Armenian Union of Russia has condemned
the organizers and perpetrators of the barbaric act of international
terrorism against helpless children and their parents in Beslan,
North Ossetia.

“We reject terrorism as a method of solving any kinds of problems. We
regard it as barbarity and savagery,” says a Tuesday statement of
the Union.

The Union presented condolences to families of the Beslan victims
and expressed the readiness to help.

Kotcharian : la politique de Poutine en Tchétchénie “adéquate face au danger”

Agence France Presse
6 septembre 2004 lundi 1:36 PM GMT

VARSOVIE 6 sept — Le président arménien Robert Kotcharian a jugé
“adéquate” lundi la politique menée par le président Vladimir Poutine
pour juguler le conflit tchétchène.

“La politique de Poutine est adéquate face au danger objectivement
présent en Russie”, a estimé M. Kotcharian, interrogé par les
journalistes sur l’attitude du président russe face à la république
rebelle, dans le contexte de la prise d’otages tragique de Beslan en
Ossétie du Nord, dans le Caucase russe.

Selon le président polonais Aleksander Kwasniewski, M. Poutine est
confronté à la “tâche très difficile de trouver une solution au
problème tchétchène”.

“Ce serait bien de trouver une solution politique. Ce serait formidable
si on pouvait trouver du côté tchétchène des partenaires engagés
à freiner les actes terroristes comme celui” de Beslan, a déclaré
M. Kwasniewski.

Les deux hommes d’Etat ont exprimé leur “douleur” et leur “solidarité
avec la Russie” à la suite de la prise d’otages de Beslan qui a fait
au moins 335 tués et plus de 500 blessés.

Le ministre arménien de la Défense, Serge Sarkissian, qui accompagne
M. Kotcharian dans une visite de trois jours en Pologne, a estimé que
cette affaire n’aurait pas d’impact particulier sur la situation dans
le Caucase.

“Nous ne considérons pas (cette prise d’otages) comme une nouvelle
étape du développement de la situation dans le Caucase. Celle-ci
était et demeure instable”, a-t-il estimé devant la presse.

Varsovie et Erevan ont signé lundi des accords sur la lutte contre
le crime organisé, sur la coopération militaire, économique et entre
les petites et moyennes entreprises.

Le ministre arménien a d’autre part confirmé l’intention de son pays
d’envoyer 50 soldats dans la zone gérée par la Pologne en Irak.

Reactions to my article Is there something the world needs to learn from the latest tragedy?

Pravda Ru
Opinion

09/06/2004 18:37

I got some great letters regarding my article about the radical
Moslems who seem to enjoy spreading terror around the world, and
lately, radical Moslems from Chechnya who slaughtered, in cold blood,
innocent children.

I did have two very nasty notes from two individuals, apparently
Moslem. One of them strongly advised me to stop spreading hate.
What hate, I ask?

Hatred for people who are so deranged that even al-Rashed, general
manager of Al-Arabiya television, said: “Most perpetrators of suicide
operations in buses, schools and residential buildings around the
world for the past 10 years have been Muslims”. Al-Rashed continued
and went on to say:” Muslims will be unable to cleanse their image
unless we admit the scandalous facts, rather than offer condemnations
or justifications”.

Ahmed Bahgat, an Egyptian Islamist, and columnist wrote: “If all
the enemies of Islam united together and decided to harm it … they
wouldn’t have ruined and harmed its image as much as the sons of Islam
have done by their stupidity, miscalculations, and misunderstanding
of the nature of this age”.

Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, was quoted as saying: “You are
taking Islam as a cover and it is a deceptive cover; those who carry
out the kidnappings are criminals.”.

But there are outspoken mullahs who demand more death, more bombs
and more horror.

Let us look at your own holy book, the Koran.

Quran Surah 2: The Cow

12. Kill disbelievers wherever you find them. If they attack you,
then kill them. Such is the reward of disbelievers

Quran Surah 4: Women

8. Have no unbelieving friends. Kill the unbelievers wherever you
find them.

Surah 9: Repentance

4. Give tiding of a painful doom to Christians and Jews

I could go on, but the point is, these are the words of your own
people, and of your Koran. And, you think I”m spreading hatred?
What is the world supposed to believe – your words and actions or
your words and actions?

Why should the world not judge all of Islam by the actions and
deeds of her own sons and daughters? If you as a people condone,
aid and support radicals, then you too are a radicals sharing in the
collective goal of killing anyone and everyone.

One Moslem wrote in and condemned me for not using the word Jews and
Christians in my articles. Young man, apparently you have not been
reading my articles so why don”t you take a valium and stand down.
Get the message?

Even in the Arab and Moslem press, your kind express hatred, rabid
hatred, for the United States. You call us the great Satan and a
whole lot of other adjectives that are best spoken by a stable boy.
You don”t separate the US Government from the American people.
You say America. You don”t separate Bush from the rest of America. You
say America.

Why the duel standards? What exactly are the word games you are
playing?

Let”s talk about Armenia – the entire population of Armenia were shot
and killed by the Moslem country of Turkey. Turkey”s actions deeply
impressed the later coming Adolph Hitler.

Anwar Sadat – the most progressive and forward thinking of all Moslem
leaders was assassinated by devout Moslems.

We need to look at a few other things while we are at it. Arafat is
a very wealth man, his wife is supposed to own an entire floor of
some Paris hotel.
Look at the squalor his people live in. Those poor people live in
conditions not even fit for a dog. Don”t blame Israel for that,
look at Arafat who has taken the relief money sent to him to
make his people”s world better and where did that money end up?
Arafat”s pocket, that”s where.

Moslems, who are seeking US citizenship, danced in the streets just
after 9/11. What gives here – they come to this country to have a
better life and they dance when Moslem terrorists take three planes
and slam them into three buildings? Killing innocent people so that
the terrorists could go to heaven, get 72 virgins and deflower every
one of them? Or, was the killing done for the sake of killing –
nothing more, nothing less?

Iraq – a low life dictator, who professed the teachings of Islam,
systematically tortured and killed Moslems. He used poison gas on the
Kurdish population – a population of Moslems. One of his sons took a
fancy to a newly married Moslem woman – shot her new Moslem husband,
raped her, and then shot her.

Look at what Radical Moslems have done in Russia – Russia has been
hit so many times by radical Moslems; I can”t even begin to count.
Now, radical Moslems have stooped lower than even the Nazis and
butchered children. You want to hear that word again? CHILDREN.

Why should the world not judge Islam by the actions and words of
Moslems?

With the killing of innocent children, the radical Moslems have
signed a death warrant on all of Islam. Read what world leaders
are saying – they are expressing much stronger sentiments than I am.
Killing innocent children went too far in the eyes of a world whose
patience is already taxed.

Michael Berglin

The Denver Post
September 3, 2004 Friday
FINAL EDITION

Telluride’s signature role is introducing “the new”

Lisa Kennedy Denver Post Film Critic

Smitten. Beguiled. Blissed out. Pick your adjective to describe the
person who has experienced the Telluride Film Festival.

Telluride, which begins its 31st outing today, is the most beloved of
film festivals.

“The people that are there, whether they’re exhibitors, journalists,
whether they’re filmmakers or distributors, they’re there because
they love movies,” said Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures
Classics. “Otherwise they would be on the beach or on holiday
somewhere with the rest of America. There’s a genuine quality to film
fanaticism there, which is pretty pure.”

Cannes has glitz and the Meditteranean going for it. Toronto, with
its hundreds of movies and influx of talent grinding through the
junket juggernaut, is nearly all things to all filmgoers. Sundance
has indie cred and a hip, burgeoning music scene – not to mention
insta-celebs like Paris Hilton wandering Park City’s Main Street.

But Telluride proves there’s a gold standard in them thar hills.

“Telluride for us is the best festival in the U.S. in which to
discover films that are fresh and challenging,” Sony’s Barker said
when asked why Telluride matters. He went on to do what everyone does
when pondering the fest: He slipped into a reverie that had more to
do with seeing movies than selling them.

“I remember seeing ‘Blue Velvet’ there the first time, “River’s Edge’
there the first time,” he said. “It is known as the festival that
introduces the new.”

This year’s slate again features Telluride’s trademark mix of U.S.
and world premieres; tributes that honor the past and lay claim to
the future, and special presentations. This year’s offerings include
George Lucas’ screening of “THX 1138” and a conversation between
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director and music-video whiz
Michel Gondry and film critic Elvis Mitchell.

Sony Classics has three films in the festival that hint at the
festival’s breadth: Pedro Almodovar’s “Bad Education,” starring
Mexican actor Gael García Bernal; Istvan Szabo’s “Being Julia”; and
Zhang Yimou’s “House of Flying Daggers,” which stars Zhang Ziyi as a
blind revolutionary during the waning of the Tang Dynasty.

“You could not get a more eclectic group of films,” Barker said.
“Each one is directed by a film master.” Szabo’s “Being Julia” stars
Annette Bening. “It reminds me of those Bette Davis movies,” said
Barker, “like ‘Mr. Skeffington’ – where the actress is at the center
and there all these characters at the periphery.”

This year, women aren’t pushing men to the outskirts, but they have
emerged as the festival’s theme.

“Both women in front of the screen and women behind the screen are a
major happening at Telluride this week,” said Bill Pence, who, along
with wife Stella and Tom Luddy, began this cinema love fest.

“We don’t set quotas,” he said. “We judge everything on its own
merits. But this year we’ve seen some of the best work by women and
performances by women that are really knockout.”

Bening, as well as Joan Allen (Sally Potter’s “Yes”), Ellen Barkin
(Todd Solondz’s “Palindromes”), Zhang Ziyi and Laura Linney, will be
in Telluride this weekend.

Linney, famed screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (“The Discreet Charm
of the Bourgeoisie”and “That Obscure Object of Desire”) and Greek
director Theo Angelopoulos are honorees at this year’s tributes.
Linney’s “P.S.” and “Kinsey” get their premieres this weekend.

Pence confided that his favorite two films in the festival are by
female directors. Since festival directors are notoriously
egalitarian parents about their festival children, he then offered,
“I would only tell you because they’re shorts and they’d be underdogs
and underseen.

“One is by a British woman named Andrea Arnold called ‘Wasp,’ ” he
said. “The the other is by a young Armenian woman named Maria
Saakyan. She has made a 27-minute film called ‘Proshanie.’ To me it
represents the best thing (Andrei) Tarkovsky did in his prime. And if
you know any Telluride lore at all, you know Tarkovsky is our idol,
our god.” For the uninitiated, the late Tarkovsky was a legendary
Russian filmmaker (“Andrei Rublev,” “Solaris”) who was honored at the
festival in 1982.

Cinema’s brightest history and its best future – that sums Telluride.

“The films just interact with each other,” says film critic Howie
Movshovitz, who teaches in Telluride’s weekend program. “You see
something old then you see something new, and over the course of four
days you realize they’re connected.”

Festival passes are sold out, but there are still ways to participate
in Telluride’s immersion therapy. (Check out tellu

ridefilmfestival.com for info.)

Festival co-director Bill Pence promises, “by the end of four days,
you’re sort of burned out if you do it right.” Here’s to doing it
right.

Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-820-1567 or
[email protected].

Azerbaijani foreign minister, Turkish ambassador to discuss foreign ministers’ meeting

Interfax
Sept 1 2004

BAKU. Sept 1 (Interfax) – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov
told reporters on Wednesday he will meet with Turkish Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Unal Chevikoz to discuss the format of the trilateral
meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Turkey on the Karabakh issue.

“I have already talked to the Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan and
we have agreed to meet again to discuss the details of the trilateral
meeting,” he said.

“We will discuss the date of the trilateral meeting, which will take
place in New York,” Mamedyarov said.

“A lot will depend on the bilateral meeting of the presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, which is to take place in Astana,” he said.